The amusement faded from his eyes, though his mouth continued to smile. He got to his feet, nodded, then left the room.
“I should have anticipated it,” Eve told her commander. “I should have figured Ricker had sources in the department and in the PA’s office.”
“You covered yourself.” A low, burning anger simmered inside Whitney. He would use it like fuel. “Only necessary personnel were informed of the plans to grant immunity.”
“Still, it leaked. And with Lewis taken out this way, I’ll never turn any of the others on Ricker. I can’t even assure myself they’ll do the maximum time. I need a lever, Commander. I got under his skin once, and I can do it again. But I need something, no matter how minor, to justify bringing him in to Interview.”
“That won’t be easy. He’s too well insulated. Mills,” Whitney said. “You have no doubt he was taking.”
“No, sir. I don’t. But as to connecting the funds back to Ricker, I don’t know. Feeney’s on it, and I have several different angles I’m going to pursue.”
“From this point on in this investigation, I want daily reports of every step you and your team makes. Every step, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want the names of every cop you’re looking at, the ones you’ve cleared to your satisfaction, and the ones you haven’t.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you believe the involvement in the department goes beyond Mills and Kohli, IAB will have to be informed.”
They watched each other a moment, treading a line.
“Sir, I would hesitate to inform Internal Affairs until such time as I have evidence substantiating what, at this point in the investigation, is only a suspicion of further involvement.”
“And how much time do you estimate your hesitation will encompass?”
“If I could have twenty-four hours, Commander.”
“One day, Dallas,” he said with a nod. “Neither of us can afford to dance around it longer than that.”
She didn’t waste time but tracked down Martinez, contacted her, and requested a meeting. Off police territory, Eve thought, would make it easier all around.
She met Martinez at a small coffee shop between both their bases. Far enough away from each location to insure it wasn’t a cop hangout.
Martinez arrived a few minutes late, giving Eve the opportunity to observe, to judge. Going by body language, it was clear Martinez’s defenses were up.
“I had to take personal time for this.” Her shoulders as stiff as her voice, Martinez slid into the booth across from Eve. “And I don’t have a lot of it.”
“Fine. My clock’s ticking, too. You want coffee?”
“I don’t drink it.”
“How do you live?”
Martinez gave a sour smile, signaled the serving droid, and ordered water. “And don’t pour it from the tap,” she warned. “I’ll know and fry your circuits. Let’s just cut through the crap,” Martinez continued, turning back to Eve. “You’re looking for me to hang something on Kohli and Mills, and it ain’t gonna happen. You’re looking to dig up dirt, doing scut work for IAB. That turns my stomach.”
Eve picked up her coffee and watched Martinez placidly over the rim. “Well, that covers that. Now, just where do you get all this information?”
“Word gets around when one cop’s hunting others. It’s all over the One two-eight. We’ve got two dead cops. It seems to me you’d be more interested in finding out who did them than in turning up muck before they’re even in the fucking ground.”
That kind of temper, while Eve respected it, wasn’t going to help Martinez work her way up the chain in rank. “Whatever you’ve heard, whatever you think, finding out who did them is my priority.”
“Yeah, right. Your priority is covering your husband’s ass.”
“Excuse me?”
“He owns Purgatory. I figure maybe something was up there, and Kohli tuned into it. They didn’t know he was a cop, so maybe they weren’t careful. And when he got too close, they took him out.”